Real Love is Borne of a River
by CelestialSonic
Summary: 5 years have passed, and Haku finds his way back to Chihiro. Chap 3 up! ^^
1. Of Haku

Disclaimer: I own many boxes of Oreos, but Spirited Away is all Miyasaki's.  
  
Haku studied the path below as it traced down into the water. Nearly 5 years had passed now since Chihiro left, could she possibly remember this world of his? Those funny clothes, that determination, the smile on her face whenever he came near, all those little parts of her had kept him alive. He sat in thought as Lin rattled away at the stove downstairs, and the faint patter of her footsteps clicked through his ears as she dodged webs of decay on the walls from the abandoned baths. Yubaba was long gone, and with her the clients.  
  
Kimaji still kept to his boiler room duties, but he no longer had to grumble at bath tags from the pipes. They were merely faded squares now, kept around the buildings, and one had to but grab one from a vacant wall and send it down to have a good bath. Haku liked to watch the man mumbling memories to himself in the early dawn as the lights were kindled and there was nothing else but the touch of sunlight across the cliffs to intrigue the mind.  
  
Indeed, the entire place was lonely now, with only Master Haku and a legion of 20 women to hold on to the scant remains. He and Lin had laughed the other day about his marriage prospects. He knew that he could never grow to fully love these women: none of them were Chihiro. Even Lin, with her cloak of arrogance over a soul of gold, had a tender spot for the young master, who sadly watched the train pass by each morning and always hoping that his one and only would come home.  
  
At this particular moment, Haku was reconsidering his last sight of Chihiro. He knew that if she had turned around, she would never have been able to live on her side of the world. Yet he had the strange feeling that she didn't turn around because she didn't care. She had almost turned at the tunnel, but stopped herself. He sighed resignedly.Lin was always saying how unreasonably worrisome he was. It felt so much more useful not to think.  
  
The sunset was beautiful: shades of yellow, red, and lavender mingled lazily over the window. The horn of a train below was strangely softer than usual, barely recognizable in the lazy evening. What a night, he thought. He searched his memory and illuminated a random vision of Chihiro onto the window pane. How cute she looked, framed by the sunset. Running his long fingers down the screen, he thought about how she must have grown. She would be fifteen years old now, he imagined. A woman.he blushed at the thought.  
  
With a sudden burst of angry inspiration Haku hit his head against the desk. A tear ran down to the scratched surface as he breathed heavily, and presently was followed by many more. Anger, loneliness, and hurt amassed over 5 years spilled out onto the weak wooden boards, and such was the battle of emotions in his heart that the soft pat of footsteps outside of his door was unheard. Thus, Lin slipped into the elevator with a harsh stamp of her foot, and the worry over her dear friend grew yet again. 


	2. Amiss

Disclaimer: I still have many Oreos, but no Spirited Away.  
  
Chapter 2: Amiss  
  
A sound of splashing wind washed through Kohaku's ears. He laid back in his chair, yearning to enter a world of dreams and memories, yet nothing came. He jumped to his feet and ran out of the room and down the hall to the elevator. He ran his hands down the walls inside: they were cracking. The formerly powerful cords gave a jerk as they deposited the box on the main floor. Something was odd.something that should have been noticed, but had gone amiss due to the lack of attention among the remaining employees.  
  
He was greeted at the bottom of the lift with mutterings of horror. Rin stood in the middle of a wide circle of people, frantically wiping her hands on her wide blue apron as well as trying to get rid of the tears running down her face. Kohaku was struck with an unfamiliar scent: it was human, perhaps from some intruder. On a side note, Kohaku felt that he had nothing against intruders. After all, the last one to come around was quite wonderful. However, it was Rin that concerned him now. Cries of Master Haku swarmed about him as he strode into the midst of the circle and calmly lifted Rin's chin with his fingers, emotions dodging about inside him.  
  
"What happened here?"  
  
Rin shook at the cool expression in his eyes. She had never seen him like this, ever. Although he was always rather calm around people, his expression was so absent that it rather frightened her.  
  
"I stepped outside for a breath of fresh air and to retrieve some water from the stream. When I came back in, I noticed a strange smell on myself. I checked again, and the scent was everywhere outside as well, and it's getting worse each minute. Look for yourself."  
  
With that exclamation she wiped a final tear from her eye and looked defiantly about the circle. Meanwhile, Kohaku seemed conflicted. He rushed outside, scanning the vacant grasses and foliage-overgrown restaurants for reasons and answers of some unanswered question. It was bluish, he noticed, not the usual bright daylight of the spirit world these past few years. Lazy and foggy, the atmosphere crept up on the old bathhouse and seemed to do more damage than any storm had ever done. The humanish scent came from a rapid wind in the northern most part of the lands: it seemed to come out of a crack in the sky.  
  
Haku slammed the door shut with a bang, already feeling the smell rising from his toes over his head into the room.  
  
"It is a crack.a break in the barrier between our world and the humans'. There is nothing to be done. We must investigate it, and do our best to come up with an alternative."  
  
The women stared at him with shock, though unable to hide their distaste for his fresh human scent. Master Haku himself, disowning the bathhouse? How impossible. Murmurs of discontent popped out of the air, ringing loud and clear in the silent hall.  
  
He sighed, knowing that the time would come. Yubaba had warned him when she left that the location was becoming old and dangerous, too old for her taste, yet Haku had stayed. They had been worth it, these past few years. No scramble for money or rush for work in the morning. Food was obtained and eaten as needed, and the life of the remaining dwellers was simple and calm. Only now was there change. He leaned his head against the wall and wondered about his dear Chihiro. Maybe there was a hole where she lived as well.who knew? Just one thing mattered to him now: to rid his world of this disturbing presence, and return to his wonderful friend.  
  
~~ A/N - Thanks for the reviews guys! Sorry it took a while. Thanks especially to the kind person who corrected my name spellings. Stupid subtitles. So many nice people to hug.Well, I hope you like this chapter. It is heating things up a bit. I know the going is slow, but there will be fluff, never fear! Eat Oreos. 


	3. Haku Proceeds

Disclaimer: I can pass Healing Vision on Trick Mode, but I still don't have Spirited Away.  
  
Chapter 3: Haku Proceeds  
  
Twilight slid over the Spirit World, washing itself plaintively over the softly winding plains. Still green and lush, they blew about in the haunting wind. The scant staff of the bathhouse fluttered around the grounds of the formerly abandoned amusement park, gathering what food and amenities they could and bringing in parts of the harvest and ingredients from the stalls. Haku had warned them that the situation was dangerous: they respected his decision and scrambled to meet the needs of the upcoming weeks.or months.or whatever time it took for this "hole" to pass on and leave their world be.  
  
In the meantime, Haku and Rin sat in deep discussion on a balcony facing away from the stampeding winds. They spoke of memories in the bathhouse, of previous emergencies and how they were handled, and other things. Everything was dwindling away slowly. Everyone smelled human now, they couldn't tell because it felt so normal. The only distinction of these spirit dwellers from actual humans was an occasional sharp inhalation at recognition of the "nastiness" of the individual's scent.  
  
Looking suspiciously at the passing dusk sky, Haku took a deep breath and looked Lin in the eye.  
  
"My magic does not work. I have tried many things, but it is of no use. I shall go through myself, and see what it is about. If it is indeed a solvable problem, I shall take care of it and return when I can. Good-bye my dear friend, before I change my mind."  
  
With that, he wrapped tall, rebellious Rin in a warm hug. She was speechless: nothing could ever be the same. With Master Haku gone.well, she would be sure to keep everyone together until he came home. He would be coming back, of course. No need to worry at all. Maybe.maybe even dear Chihiro could help them. Smiling now, Rin recalled the days of "training" Chihiro. Grown now, that girl must be. Hopefully she hadn't forgotten the time she spent in the Spirit World. Rin frowned. It would break Haku's heart.  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
Putting a final wrapped loaf of soft bread into his soft bag, Haku looked around the darkened back room of the all of their plans. An emergency procedure had been written, in case the risk of that crack came too near. They had planned his departure meticulously, him and Rin. He would leave just as the sun went down and the winds became especially strong. No one would be out then. He would go in his regular form, for a dragon would have trouble in such an atmosphere. They had not discussed the reason for such a sheltered exit, though they both knew it. It was painful, but necessary. He would go, and do with himself as he would. Rin had made a bit of extra food for him, and he had enough to hold him through to the human world. He brought gold as well, to purchase food when he arrived there.  
  
He followed the worn path down to the pig houses, their bright roofs already shattered by the strong winds. They used to be the spotlight of a gentle view from the bathhouse, and distance concealed what they held within them. Now pieces of the formerly sturdy wood plummeted over the cliff.  
  
Suddenly he realized that the hole was not in fact over the bathhouse lands. It was over the water, and there was a gaping hole in the waves. He tied his pack to his hip, and upon running down to the shore, took a deep breath and dove in.  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
Many miles away, a slender girl stood by a rack in a dim department store. It was late, and the centre was closing. She fingered a soft shimmering dress.the mild green, blue, and white colorings reminding her oddly of a very special dragon.  
  
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Authors Note: Thanks to all who reviewed! I'm really sorry again that I take a bit between chapters, but I'm really trying to make it nice and suspenseful and everything. Thank you so much to my wonderful reviewers: you know who you are: please keep coming. This is an odd chapter, but things will move on again in a bit. Yes, there is a change in Haku. No I will not tell you right now. It's coming, trust me. Thanks guys! 


	4. Ponderings of a Dragon

Disclaimer: So many Oreos, so little time, yet no Spirited Away.  
  
Chapter 4: Ponderings of a Dragon  
  
It was murkier than usual under the sea, and as he waded out along the train tracks it was though he was in the eye of a hurricane. Winds blew behind him and around him, yet he had no difficulty approaching the center. He considered the situation as he pressed on. It was not terribly desperate; the girls could take care of themselves. Doubts flew about his mind: what if Chihiro didn't remember, what if she didn't care? It could happen. Many years had passed. Yes, he had grown, and she must have too. It could be that she thought of him as often as he did of her, or perhaps she was married. It made him want to scream. After all, maybe in her world 15 was the ideal age to get married.he frowned, as it was no pleasant thought.  
  
There were other matters at hand now: he must get to her, that's was the important thing. If she chose not to care, he could live through a broken heart. It was odd, though, that he was having such concerns. He had spent 5 years pondering him and Chihiro's reunion: perhaps the moment at hand was making him jittery.  
  
At the end of the "wind tunnel", there was something of a square room. The wind seemed to blow in corners, yet a five by five foot square was left clear and water danced through it serenely. Haku felt like there should be perhaps an eternal plain such as this. A song perhaps, a gentle voice on the wind. Chihiro it could be. She might be a good singer now, or perhaps she could carry no tune. He chuckled. No matter the case, she was his Chihiro and always would be.  
  
He hadn't noticed that he was stepping closer to the crack in the air with every turn of his thoughts.he was so deep in thought that all events except those in his mind were not noticeable. Then he was in the hole, and at once was lying down on a rocky cliff by a storming ocean. A stray raindrop spattered upon his eye, and so Haku woke to find himself lost and alone in a strange land.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
A/N ~ Well, things are coming nicely now. I know this chapter is a major surprise to some of you, as it really takes a turn and introduces some new thoughts. I just want to make sure you know my version of Haku, because the developments of his personality play a major role later in the story. I hope you enjoy, and keep reading. Now that I am inspired, I'll update more often. I promise! Thanks again to all my reviewers. You know who you are. 


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